“We love you. But sometimes, you’re impossible to please.”

Well, what I really mean is: Pleasing everyone is impossible.

I think I can speak for many CrossFit affiliates when I say we sit around at coaches meetings and talk about programming, client retention, what people want, what people value, what’s good for business, what’s good for clients. And generally we look for solutions that work for the coach, the client, and the business. 

We had a two hour meeting last week to discuss how to make our Competitor’s Program better so it works for everyone. A passioned debate ensued that almost resulted in a fist fight—not because we don’t love each other, but because we all have opinions on how to improve things, and we’re constantly looking to make things better. And sometimes we disagree on how to get there.

Similarly, we’re in the midst of doing upgrades on our facility and we just put in some lifting platforms.

When the 6 am class arrived the morning after the platforms went in, I watched the bleary-eyed folks file in. A couple men got instant boners when they saw the new platforms, and they, of course, walked right up to them to see what they’d feel like to lift on. They bounced up and down a couple times and smiled. Meanwhile, a couple others barely noticed there were platforms and proceeded to grab a dowel and began to dislocate like they do every morning.

At the start of class, I asked each person what their reaction was when they saw the platforms. The reactions ranged from:

“Dude. I’m stoked. Glad we’re jerking today so I can try them,” to, “What lifting platforms? Where? What are lifting platforms anyway?”

A simple platform turned some on, while others didn't notice its existence

The posts in our gym were also painted that morning. Reactions:

“Who painted those? They look awesome.”

“Something is different around here but I don’t know what.”

“The posts looked better when they were white.”

I was amused by the various reactions, so I decided to ask people about programming. What they like? What they don’t like?

“I just like the grinders.”

“No more grinders. We need more strength days.”

“We should have more open gym time.”

“You should add a class at 9 am.”

“I like the gymnastics.”

“No more pull-ups, please.”

“More volume.”

“Less volume.”

“We should build in more mobility.”

“Too much mobility shit this month. It’s boring.”

“I want you to post the workouts at the start of the week for the entire week.”

“Don’t do that. Then people won’t need to log in everyday to check the blog.”

“Paleo.”

“Zone.”

“Paleo!”

“Zone!”

“Vegan?”

Ok, maybe no vegans in the house.

As I said, it’s impossible to please everyone.

But the point I’m trying to make is that if you go to a gym where the coaches care, the coaches are always talking about your contradictory feedback, desperately trying to find a way to make it work for everyone, all the while trying to give you both what you want and what you need. Problem is opinions about what you need is as widespread and contradictory as anything else.

Until we find a shotgun solution, we’ll keep chipping away because we really do care.